Looking back at the beginning of BTL in 2002 it’s almost comical how unclear I was. I began, out of fear, joining forces with another guy who was already in the business. Six months in, clarity came. This wasn’t going in the right direction. Fail.
On my own, I began to write my own stuff and play with it with my clients. Thirteen versions later, it was still mostly clear to nobody but me. Fail.
Larry wanted in. His structure met my chaos. We battle, in the open, to find our way forward. Every leader is blessed if their team ever greets them with a “good argument.” I was getting them daily from my brother Larry. Together we improved, slowly. We tasted some clarity and liked it.
sCORE.
Pete joins and with him I’m given courage. Gurue and Brownie give me more and more conviction. Sully brings his Greek ideas and ideals. The band is starting to come together. Kitty is coming on board and then it happens. Larry dies.
Epic FAIL.
My argument and my boldest believer is gone. Our work goes on and the BTL band comes together through this adversity. We make some good decisions and keep going forward. We walk with a limp, but we’re walking.
sCORE.
Client after client starts strong but loses faith before they become BTL. Client after client buys our message of REAL, HARD, WORK only to inform us that it’s really too painful, too hard to see improvement, and too much damn work to build. Client after client makes some gains but stops short of our aim. FAIL.
Our vision and purpose, however, are gaining clarity and conviction. Somehow this is happening. We can feel it coming.
Others start to really believe. Clients come on board that make BTL their own. We find the heart of the 12 and the 8 where it had always been, the right structure just hadn’t been found. We taste what it feels like for a system to become BTL. We likee. We begin to believe that this vision, despite all the failures and false starts, might have some legs.
sCORE.
You and your team will cover some similar ground on your journey together. There are no quick wins that really sCORE. There are no overnight sensations that really stand the test of time, are there? There are no shortcuts to building excellence. AND, there’s no way to go forward without paying a high price. The problem we face as leaders is that we tend to forget the facts and we give too much of our attention to the wrong scorecard. We just do.
Expect to fail. Embrace this fact. Expect some form of epic fail to come your way. STAND, anyway. Remember, you can’t go forward when you’re on your back. STAND and keep moving forward while acknowledging your limp. In the end, we all walk with some kinda limp. We just do. Someday, oftentimes from some place that you least expect it…
sCORE.
BUILT TO LEAD 